Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition and a method for preventing or treating hair loss or promoting hair growth comprising secoiridoid glucoside derivatives.
Description of the Related Art
According to the report of National Health Insurance Corporation from 2001 to 2008, the numbers of patients of ‘hair loss diseases’ are estimated at 103,000 people in 2001, at 142,000 people in 2005 and at 165,000 people in 2008. It has increased by 60% for seven years. The number of patients in 20s to 40s is estimated at 114,000 people and it is accounted for 69.5% of whole patients. In addition, the number of patients in 10s is estimated at more than 22,000 people. The numbers of patients are estimated at 84,000 people in male, and at 80,000 people in female. The numbers of patients of hair loss disease in 2008 Korean Health Insurance treatment are alopecia areata (130,000 people), cicatricial alopecia (20,000 people), androgenetic alopecia (9,000 people) and other nonscarring hair loss (8,000 people) in order.
In abroad, according to data in June 2003 International Hair and Beauty Studies, hair loss patients are 250 million people, and prevalence rate of hair loss patients between the ages of twenty-four and fifty years old is 30-65%. In China, the number of hair loss patients is 300 million people in 2008. 30% of 30s and 50% of 50s in male show signs of hair loss, and the number of hair loss patients are increased by 10-15% every year. In Japan, prevalence rate of hair loss is 26.5%, and the number of hair loss patients is estimated at 12.93 million people.
Currently, drugs for treating hair loss are classified as pharmaceutical medicines, quasi-drugs and cosmetics. Prescription drug on the doctor's is ‘Propecia’ developed by Merck (U.S.), and its active ingredient Finasteride has been approved as drugs for treating hair loss from the U.S. FDA in December 1997. Finasteride inhibits 5-a-reductase which converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), whereby it results in growth of thick and long hair. Although it has an effect for alleviating hair loss in the short term, side effects such as impotence, sexual dysfunction and male breast enlargement have been reported. Minoxidil has been recognized as drug available to purchase without a doctor's prescription in safety and efficacy, and it has been firstly approved as spread drugs for treating hair loss from the U.S. FDA in December 1997. It improves blood circulation and opens potassium channels to promote hair growth. However, it has side effects such as itching, rash and frequent pulse.
Quasi-products for hair loss prevention and hair growth functions approved from Korea Food & Drug Administration include ‘Mobalryeok confidence (CJ lion)’, ‘Hair Tonic (Moracle)’ and ‘Moaenmoah (LG Household & Health Care)’. Products of cosmetics and shampoos have been sold to maintain or promote health of skin and hair.
Hair production occurs in phases, including growth (anagen), cessation (catagen), and rest (telogen) phases. The anagen is the active growth phase of hair follicles during which the root of the hair is diving rapidly, adding to the hair shaft. The life span of hairs in the anagen stage ranges from 3 to 6 years. Hairs in the anagen phase accounts for 80-90% of the entire hair. In hair loss in progress, shorter anagen and longer catagen lead to reduce the proportion of anagen in the entire hair. In catagen stage after anagen stage, the metabolism of hairs becomes to be slower with maintaining the shape of hairs and hair grows slowly. The catagen stage continues for 1-1.5 months and occupies 1% of total hairs. In the telogen phase, hair follicle is gradually contracted, and the hair root is pushed upward to be finally removed. This phase lasts for about 3-4 month, and accounts for 4-14% of total hairs. Lastly, at the new anagen, hair bulbs which is surrounded by hair follicles in the anagen stage, combines with hair papilla to induce the formation of new hairs. Afterwards, the new hairs push upward and naturally remove old hairs in the talogen stage.
Oleuropein contained in large quantities in olive leaf and olive oil is a secoiridoid compound with slightly bitter scent of olive leaf. Oleuropein has a molecular formula of C25H32O13 and a molecular weight of 540.514, represented by the following chemical formula:

Biological activity of oleuropein is known to be effective in antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, antibacterial, antiobesity and improvement of non-alcoholic fatty liver. In addition, there is no toxicity of oleuropein in mouse treated with 1 g/kg (body weight) of oleuropein for 7 days, and LD50 of oleuropein may not be calculated through various experiments. Therefore, it is suggested that oleuropein is a substance with a significant high safety.
However, the efficacy of oleuropein related to promotion of hair growth or improvement of hair loss has been not known so far.
Throughout this application, various patents and publications are referenced and citations are provided in parentheses. The disclosure of these patents and publications in their entities are hereby incorporated by references into this application in order to more fully describe this invention and the state of the art to which this invention pertains.